I guess I do tend to center my lifting more around power. When I started lifting I got good results like that. It seems I never got results lifting light or at slow motions. I only grow or get stronger from exploding up as hard and fast as I can. I also like lifting like that. Its kind of like fighting or something, just getting agression out and trying to push myself to the limit as far as what I can lift. When I started lifting my attitude was if I had a rep range of 8 to 10 and I did 8 last time I would consider my workout a failure if I didnt do 9 so I was very agressive and it worked well. My first 2 years I would bring my big lifts up about 5 to 15lbs a month and every now and then 20lbs but on average about 10lbs. I went from reping with 95lbs on bench my freshman year to 265 my jounier year and Ive always been natural. I always believed you just had to train harder then the next guy to get bigger. Now that im older I think genetics play some role because ive trained guys to do exactly what worked for me and they didnt get any strength gains at all, not even 5lbs over a couple months. After my jounier year it slowed way down and I have gained much slower since. Im 27 now and my bench is only up about 50lbs since I was 17. Maybe I do need to change something at this point. I think my main problem is what I eat. I think in order to get bigger I will need to up my calories. I dont pause when I do the 355. Ive never tried going really heavy and pausing but I imagine I couldnt lift quite as much if I did. I also think I dont look very thick in that pic. i have other pics that I think I look thicker. That one is taken from above me. The good part is it makes my shoulders look wider and my waste thinner but it also makes me look smaller. Ive gained about 4lbs in these pics hopefull all muscle. I had just eaten and had 4 refills of my soda so im probably bloated some in these pics. Also a lot of my strength is in my tricepts so they are kind of hidden inthe last pic. Ive always had a disspaportionatly small chest because my tricepts have always dominated in lifts like bench, military press and stuff like that.

LOL I'll trade you some bench press strength for some of those triceps!

I used to do deadlift but never did them for more then a couple of months at a time. The problem I had was when I would get towards the end of the set I had a hard time holding the wieght but my muscles could keep going. I suppose I could lift with some straps and do them though. I sometimes do heavy dumbell rows with straps and they help a lot.

I used to do deadlift but never did them for more then a couple of months at a time. The problem I had was when I would get towards the end of the set I had a hard time holding the wieght but my muscles could keep going. I suppose I could lift with some straps and do them though. I sometimes do heavy dumbell rows with straps and they help a lot.

Hate to say this but in order for you to effectively work some muscle groups..you just have to use straps. I won't lie, I use them alot but only after my grip fails out so it gets it's work in, and then use them to finish things off. Doing set after set of heavy shrugs, deads, or barbell rows usually requires them. I always ask this question of people who don't use them. Why not use every tool at your disposal to your advantage when lifting! You can benefit all around if you use them wisely and not let them take over the work of the other muscle groups til after they're exhausted.

Hate to say this but in order for you to effectively work some muscle groups..you just have to use straps. I won't lie, I use them alot but only after my grip fails out so it gets it's work in, and then use them to finish things off. Doing set after set of heavy shrugs, deads, or barbell rows usually requires them.

You hit the nail on the head there wicked, as i have moved up in weight on BB rows i am finding that my grip is giving out way before my back is . I will be getting some straps this week i'd say .

Today I did chest in the morning and skipped cardiobench press 135 warm up225 warm up 315 x6 My shoulder has been bothering me so I decided to just do some light stuff after this. Nothing worth mentioning just 4 or 5 sets of cables and machines. I havent been able to post all my routines, i'll probably just post if I make progress since all my workouts are about the same.

Hers a few of my recent workoutsChest drop set day, no rest between sets exept to quickly change the wieghts315lbs for 6225 for 10 or so185 for 8 or 10155 for 10135 for 10115 for 10105 for 1295 for 1285 for 1275 for 1265 for 15I think I stoped there I cant remeber exactly. Those reps are just estimates. Each set was done till failure except the last one or two, it is mentally very difucult to go till falure at that point when your muscles are hurting so much. I havnt been this sore in a while. My pecs and delts are complety tore up right now from this. Ill probably need a few days to recover.

Backpull ups 46 reps 1 set This was good for me, im usually a few reps lower than this.

Dumbell rows with no rest except to do the alternate arm.65lbs 15 reps 3 sets

BiceptsNo rest between sets for this workout1 set of alternating dumbell curls1 set of standing barbell curls 1 set of one arm cable curls1 set on a curl machine1 set of hammer curls1 set of currling a lat pulldown bar behind my neck.

Tricepts1 set behind the neck dumbell 125lbs for 9 reps1 set of tricept push downs 140lbs for 8 or 101 set one arm cable pushdowns1 set tricept machine

Shoulders 1 set of dumbell military press with 90lbs for 8 reps or so.1 set on a machine Tried laterals but hurt to much

LegsSquats 3 sets did around 185lbs for 10. I go ass to the floor and lift emphasising my hams and glutes. If I emphasise my quads I can do much more.Leg press 12 plates for 6 reps and then some sets with less wieght.leg extensions 3 sets

Cows cow extensions full stack 50 something reps 1 set.They are way out of poportionatly bigger then my quads. Even before I ever lifted they were really big. When I was a kid a used to walk on my tiptoes, maybe thats why.

Abs I use a stability ball and hook my feet onto this foot thing that is right below waste level so im ant a decline and extend all the way down. With a full extension I only do 12 reps at a time with a partial I can do like 50 but I like the full. This is the best ab exercise Ive ever done. I usually do this once or twice a week.

here is what I did todayChestbench press warm up 135 and 225lbs 315x6 attempted 7th only got about half way and spotter had to help still good considering I usually barly get the 6th but almost got the 7th today 335x3Incline dumbell press 120s for 6 95s for 12 lifted lazy didnt really use power otherwise I couldve done more, Focused more on form

Pullups 1 set of 48 good day got a little stronger on this onedumbell rows light day 2 sets

Today I did very little of everythingChest Bench press 315x6 dissapionted, I cant ever get that 7th rep, I did a drop set last week but it apparently didnt work so next week im going to take it further and do 3 or 4 drop sets doing over 30 sets in about 5 or 10 minutes and try to get in as much protein as I can.incline dumbell press 125x6

ShouldersSeated dumbell military press 90lbs dumbells x 6 or 8

Lats pull ups 48 or so, I was happy with these I was very wide with them and felt my form was good, better then usuall for that many reps. I will officially be a bad ass when I can do 50 pullups and bench 365lbs. Legssquats 185x7 and one more set of 185 for about 5. It sound reall low but its the way I do them. I go down further than my body can even naturally go. when I get to the point where my body doesnt go any further down(full squat) I relax my muscles and the wieght pushes me down 3 or 6 inches more. I still have skinny legs but these are a different kind of squat that im doing. Leg press12 plates one setLeg extensions 165lbs x 12calf raises full stack taking 5 seconds rest every time the lactic acid buldup would be too painfull. did 34 reps paused and did like 10 more and paused and repeated this untill I got to 50.

Today I did very little of everythingChest Bench press 315x6 dissapionted, I cant ever get that 7th rep, I did a drop set last week but it apparently didnt work so next week im going to take it further and do 3 or 4 drop sets doing over 30 sets in about 5 or 10 minutes and try to get in as much protein as I can.incline dumbell press 125x6

ShouldersSeated dumbell military press 90lbs dumbells x 6 or 8

Lats pull ups 48 or so, I was happy with these I was very wide with them and felt my form was good, better then usuall for that many reps. I will officially be a bad ass when I can do 50 pullups and bench 365lbs. Legssquats 185x7 and one more set of 185 for about 5. It sound reall low but its the way I do them. I go down further than my body can even naturally go. when I get to the point where my body doesnt go any further down(full squat) I relax my muscles and the wieght pushes me down 3 or 6 inches more. I still have skinny legs but these are a different kind of squat that im doing. Leg press12 plates one setLeg extensions 165lbs x 12calf raises full stack taking 5 seconds rest every time the lactic acid buldup would be too painfull. did 34 reps paused and did like 10 more and paused and repeated this untill I got to 50.

Bicepts70lbs x 8 reps one setTricepts 125lbs dumbell for 6 or so.

abs and cardio.

LOL you're bitching about 315 for 6 when most people can't even put it up for one? I like this guys attitude! Good work buddy! Maybe do a warmup up, 5 reps of 225 or something to prep, then go all out on the 315? Might help get you one or two more reps.

I made my chest pay today for not doing seven reps yesterday. Today I did a giant drop set. I'll post the wieghts but dont know the reps but I went to failure. The only rest between sets was the changing of wieghts, for the sets I did for the same wieght I rested 10 seconds. The reason I did the same wieght was because at the lower wieghts I can rejuvinate more quickly and redoe the same wieght without dropping lower. Also it takes 20 seconds to lower the wieght and by the time I wouldve lowered it my strentth was already strong enough to repeat the same wieght so I made sure by the time I lowered the wieght I could only do the previous wieght a few times to ensure I was fully exhausted.Within just a few hours my chest was already sore at work today. Im gonna hurt from this. Hopefully it makes me stronger.31524522520518518518516516515515514514513513512512512511511511595959595757575656565I think I ended here. These are estimates. Im not exactly sure how I did the drop but it was something like this. Some sets I did 6 or 8. others only 3 or 4 for example my first time doing 75 maybe I did 6 then by the fourth set with only 10 seconds rest per set I only did 3 or 4. I was gonna do 3 drop sets but by the way I felt after this one I didnt know what that would do to my muscles becuase I was hurting. Usually I drop down much quicker and dont do this many sets. I did around 30 today and last time it was about 11. I attempted to do a set of shoulders but couldnt barley raise my arms so I just left and got some food.

Today I did bicepts and back and shoulders. Light on bicepts and shoulders. I have upped my protien intake signifigantly over the last couple days because of my big drop set so I dont waste all that work by eating poorly. I was eating between 100 and 160 grams a day and for the last 2 days Ive been around 200grams a day. I dont know if all this has worked to make my bench go up to 7 reps but I more then broke any expectations I had on pullups setting a new personal record today. Usually I can only do 48 but today I did 53. Its been a goal of mine for a long time to do 50 pullups so this is good for me. Tommorow im gonna see if this extra protien helps my chest too.

havnt posted my last workouts. Im dissapointed. I did that crazy drop set and ate more protien then normal and my chest has actually gotten weaker. Ive felt kinda burnt out latley. My pullups have stayed at 53 though which is a great gain for my lats. It seems like I lost muscle on my chest and gained it on my back. I dont know why this would happen but it did. My legs are about the same. Im going to make some changes now in my chest routine in my rep schemes. I used to do 315 for 6 and then some heavier ones and now im gonna shoot more for the 10 to 12 range or I may experement with a 12 to 14 or even a 15 to 17 for a while since ive never done this. My logic is that its more difficult to go from 6 to 8 then it is to go from 10 to 12. An extreme example of what I mean is going from 3 ot 4 reps would be around 28 percent more volume whereas going from 10 to 11 only around 9 percent. This is why I think I was able in one day to go from 48 pullups to 53. A five rep increase doing a 6 to 8 rep range in one day is impossible unless I did some steriods maybe. My idea is that while I may not be able to handle 315 for 7 because the volume increase is to much if I can get lesser volume increases by doing higher reps that I can handle they will progressivley go up to more substantial increases.

So today did chest275 for 12275 for 11225 for 18

Incline db press85x1585x12

Cable presses but sorta like flys how a did them. low wieght.

It felt good doing these low wieghts. I missed that feeling of throwing wieghts up fast and hard.

going higher reps helped I think cause my strenght is back to where it should be. Ive been staying more around 12 to 15 reps with many of my exersizes. Routine is about the same except im doing a more serioius shoulder routine doing about 6 reall sets instead of 1 or 3 light ones. her's some recent stuff. I went heavy on chest only cause my friend was there to spot and I had about 5 fans watching so I didnt want to let them down.

chestbench press 275x12315x6 one of my fans started clapping after this set. That was annoying. 360x1 New personal bestincline dumbell press 85lbs15,12,10 more or lesspeck deck 3 sets of 10 to 15

Shoulders60lbs 17,15,12,10cable shoulder press 3sets

tricepts dumbell1 set 105 8 reps more or less. went slower and didnt feel like pushing it.

I also switched to about parrelel squats instead of this all the way down stuff so im uping the poundage to at least 315 for heavier sets and see where im at. I got much more sore from parelel squats than light all the way down ones so im going heavy on legs again. Even though I liked the idea of full range I dont grow from it like parelel squats with heavier wieghts.

I went on a vacation and lost some wieght and havnt been able to fully get back into the gym yet. Im just going 2 days a week now for 10 minutes each time only doing one set or 2 per body part. Lazy. now im gonna get serious though. this is where I am right now, my wieght is close to before at 158lbs but some of my lifts are down.

bench275x10295x6pullups 62reps one set (for some reason this is the only exersize I keep getting stronger at even if everything else goes down.)curls 60x12 one settricepts full stack(light stack though) 20 reps havnt been doing legs latley